Lifestyle

Life Lately: Taking My Teenage Self to North Italia (and a Book Signing)

On Tuesday evenings, I usually host “Write On with Javacia” for members of the See Jane Write Collective. It’s a time for us to check in, chat, and then write. But I played hooky last night because it was release day for Bones at the Crossroads, book two of the Blood at the Root series by LaDarrion Williams. The series centers on Malik, an African American teenage boy who discovers, through a traumatic event, that he has magical powers. He lands at an HBCU for other Black kids with powers, where he begins to learn how to control his powers while also uncovering secrets about his family and even the school. LaDarrion, who’s an Alabama native, had a book signing and Q&A at the downtown branch of the Birmingham Public Library and I had to be there!

Last night, LaDarrion said so many things about the importance of representation that had me wanting to yell “Amen!” But the thing that stuck with me most was his statement that he’s healing his teenage self by writing the BATR series.

We often talk about healing our inner child, but what about our inner teen? I don’t know about you, but mine definitely needs some TLC.

What can you do, what could you write, to help heal your inner teenage self?

(more…)

Introducing “Life Lately”

New blog feature alert!

Life Lately is a new feature to the See Jane Write blog that will allow me to share snippets of my life beyond the laptop in a more in-depth way than I can on Instagram.

My hope is to share what I’m watching, reading, listening to, and obsessing over while still telling you a bit more about my writing life with the goal of sparking your creativity along the way.

Let’s jump in…

(more…)

Life Lately and the Future of See Jane Write

Today – March 24, 2025 – is the 14th year anniversary of the first See Jane Write event. That’s right. See Jane Write is 14 years old today. Unfortunately, I’m not doing anything to celebrate except publishing the blog post – the first post I’ve published since January. Needless to say, life has been lifin’!

Last year I had a brunch with cake and balloons to celebrate Jane’s 13th birthday. But this year is different, because – life happens.

Usually, on See Jane Write’s anniversary, I reflect on what’s next for the community. But to be honest, I’m not sure what the future holds. Here’s what I do know:

(more…)

How I Fell In Love with My Life

The story of how I fell in love with my life is also the story of how I became an overnight success.

No, I didn’t wake up one morning to 100K followers on social media or a million downloads of my podcast or a six-figure book deal from one of the Big 5 publishers.

But one morning I woke up and realized I was living the life I once prayed for and dreamed about.

I have always wanted to write and teach, and I’ve been doing both since even before I was an adult! I started writing as soon as I could sit up straight, according to my mom. And I’ve been teaching since my high school days as a math/science camp counselor. But during my years as a staff reporter at a paper in Louisville, Kentucky, I realized that I wanted to write on my own terms. And while I was an English teacher at the Alabama School of Fine Arts, I realized that as much as I loved ASFA, I wanted to teach on my own terms too. But what would that look like, I wondered.

(more…)

My December Ta-Da List for 2024

Trade your December to-do list for a December Ta-Da List!

I can’t take credit for coming up with that name. One year a Collective member used the term during a monthly planning session, and it stuck. And since then, it’s become a yearly ritual for me.

Usually, I help the members of the See Jane Write Collective each month set 3 major goals -– one writing goal, one wellness goal, and one goal for another area of life that needs attention. But December is such a wacky month for most folks, and we usually have a long list of things we want, need, and must wrap up before the end of the year. But we turn this to-do list into a ta-da list by making sure we include fun stuff and acts of self-care too.

(more…)